This animal resource improvement project represents a facet of the Campus' Animal Care and Use Committee's Program for improving the quality of animal care on the College Park Campus. The Committee is currently in the middle of its 5 year plan directed towards attaining AAALAC 5 year plan initial stages of this plan have resulted accreditation in 1991. The initial stages of this plan have resulted in the following: a centralized and standardized animal care program, new animal care facilities, purchase of major animal users on campus. The upgrading of the Campus' animal caging, represented in this project, is this Year's designated area for improvement. The funds requested in this project and the matching funds provided by the Campus will all be used for the purchase of animal caging and equipment. The caging so purchased will be distributed throughout the campus on an as needed basis by the Director of Laboratory Animal Care. Departments will be charged a nominal fee for their use ( 10% of their annual cage usage) and these fees used to purchase replacement and additional caging. In this manner, the high standard of quality caging used on the Campus will be maintained.